


Travel By Starlight

by fangirl_squee



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 14:57:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18813241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: Gig has a lot of very good friends from across the Mirage. Sometimes they need a ride. (aka the Gig Kephart Kissing Tour of the Twilight Mirage)





	Travel By Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to maddie, for betaing

 

_ Duck _

He brings Duck on board, obviously. They’re best friends, and also he’s not exactly sure where Duck could go, since he doesn’t really seem to have a natural environment that Gig should be releasing him back into, and he’s certainly not going to put Duck back into the weird stasus he found Duck in.

 

And, most importantly, Duck seems perfectly happy on the ship with him. So there.

 

“So there!” said Gig.

 

“It’s-. You… it’s still a  _ horse _ ,” said Grand, “on a  _ spaceship _ .”

 

“So? We’re  _ people  _ on a spaceship,” said Gig.

 

“That’s not an argument!” said Grand, “We’re supposed to be here!”

 

Gig made a face. “I mean, maybe. I feel like we’re supposed to be here just as much as Duck is.”

 

“You’re not going to convince him that way,” said Echo, from where they were lying across the couch, “Even already tried that.”

 

Gig nodded, and started brushing Duck’s smaller half, keeping up a steady stream of compliments. Duck ruffled his hair and Gig laughed, the sound of it bouncing around the docking bay.

 

“So you’re just fine with this!” said Grand, waving a hand at Duck.

 

Duck’s hair tendrils reached out, forming fingers and holding Grand’s hand. Grand spluttered, jerking back.

 

Echo laughed. “It’s just one thing, Grand. Everyone’s allowed to have  _ one _ thing.”

  
  


_ Yam _

Yam’s loud laugh echoed down the corridor, the sound mixing with Gig’s sharp laugh, filling Gig’s chest with warmth. 

 

“Man, it’s really good to see you,” said Gig, bumping their shoulders together.

 

Yam bumped back, making Gig giggle.

 

“It is good to see you too,” said Yam. They paused. “Thank you for letting me be a part of your broadcasts. It is very fun to do them with you.”

 

“It’s fun for me, too!” said Gig, “I’m glad you could do it. It sucks that there are people out there who don’t know how cool you guys are, you know?”

 

Yam lowered their headlamp. “Is that the only reason you want to do the videos with me?”

 

“What? No!” said Gig. He reached out and put a hand on Yam’s arm. “I want to do them with you because I like you!”

 

Yam’s light flickered. “I… like you too.”

 

Gig grinned, slinging an arm around Yam’s shoulders. “Good!”

 

“It is good,” said Yam.

 

Yam leant their head against his shoulder, their light dimming to a warm glow. Gig was just able to make out the faint hum of Yam’s inner workings over the ambient noise of the ship.

 

“We should hang out more,” said Gig.

 

Yam hummed. “I would like to do more streams.”

 

“No- I mean,  _ yeah _ , obviously, but like… we should hang out more off-stream too,” said Gig.

 

Yam paused, their headlamp flickering again. “I would like that too.”

  
  


_ Armstrong _

Armstrong huffed a laugh, leaning back against the blue-green bathroom tiles. He looked, Gig thought, very beautiful next to them. But Gig thought that about most things Armstrong was next to.

 

“I’m not as young as I used to be,” said Armstrong. “You’re gonna need to give me a minute.”

 

Gig let out a long breath, pressing a lingering kiss to Armstrong’s collarbone. “Okay. We could get something to eat or something, it’s probably lunchtime somewhere. Or dinnertime. Or-”

 

He cut off with a squeak as Armstrong palmed his ass, then laughed.

 

“I’m not gonna need  _ that  _ long,” said Armstrong, “I’ll go grab some water or something.”

 

Armstrong stepped away, pulling his jumpsuit up before he opened the bathroom door, almost walking into Even. Even stared at them both, his eyes widening as his gaze went from Gig to Armstrong.

 

“Uh,” said Even.

 

Gig waved from behind Armstrong. “Hey Even.”

 

“I was just, uh,” Even scrubbed a hand over his face. “I can take a shower later.”

 

“Oh, no, that’s okay, we were just going to get a drink or something,” said Gig.

 

“Or something,” said Even, “Right.”

 

“So it’s all yours!” Gig continued brightly, patting Even on the arm as he moved past.

 

“Thanks?” said Even.

 

“You remember Armstrong, right?” said Gig, “We bumped into each other last night.”

 

Armstrong nodded. “Even.”

 

“Yeah, I… I remember him,” said Even. He paused. “Didn’t he shoot you that one time?”

 

Gig waved a hand. “Water totally under the bridge! Speaking of, we’re off to the kitchen, so we’ll leave you to it!”

 

“Right, well I’ll just…” Even stepped around them, giving Gig another raised-eyebrow look as he closed the door.

 

Armstrong rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess I need to work on my espionage skills.”

 

Gig laughed, tangling their fingers together. “Come on. Kitchen’s this way. And there are plenty of other place on this ship you can practise your espionage.”

 

Armstrong grinned, letting himself be led wherever Gig might take him.

  
  


_ Lily Lysander _

“I’m thinking of an ombre type pattern,” said Lily, framing the wall between her hands, “it’s supposed to be soothing, which is what you want in a bedroom.”

 

“Sure,” said Gig, “but it’s kind of a communal space, too.”

 

Lily hummed, thoughtful. “Maybe we could do the legs of the pool table ombre.”

 

“Perfect!” said Gig, “And the walls can be, uh…”

 

“Something earthy?” said Lily, “it’ll feel warmer that way.”

 

“Yeah!” said Gig, “Wow, you’re great at this.”

 

Lily laughed. “No, I know.”

 

Lily put music on while they painted. It went much faster than if Gig had been trying to do it on his own - well, that was kind of his position on doing anything, always better to make something a group activity than to try and do it all by yourself - but also it went a lot faster if the person you were painting with could levitate several paint brushes at once.

 

They lay together under to pool table to paint the ombre design on the table legs, Gig starting from the bottom of each leg while Lily worked from the top. Gig rolled onto his back when they were done, admiring the deep purple fading into blue.

 

“This looks really good,” said Gig, “Thanks Lily.”

 

Lily lay back next to him, their bodies close together in the small space. He felt her hair brush his cheek as she turned her face towards him.

 

“No problem,” said Lily, “And you helped too! So thanks.”

 

“No problem,” said Gig, then laughed.

 

Lily laughed too.

 

In between their bodies, Gig’s hand found her’s, or maybe her hand found his. It was a team effort, after all.

  
  


_ Surge and Janey _

“Thanks so much for coming guys,” said Gig. “I know you have a lot going on.”

 

“It’s fine,” said Janey. “From the message you sent it sounds like it’ll be an easy fix.”

 

“But easier with three, right?” said Surge, holding the engine room door open for them.

 

“Right,” said Janey, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek as she moved past.

 

Gig led them towards the back of the engine room. There was a small gap in between two generators that were offline, just wide enough for them to fit through.

 

“It’s in there,” said Gig, yelling to be heard over the working generators, “they’re connected somehow so you have to fix them at basically the same time, I think.”

 

Janey nodded. “I’ll take a look?”

 

Gig nodded. Janey wiggled through the gap, holding her torch between her teeth as she peered at the generators.

 

“She’ll figure it out,” said Surge. “My girl’s a genius.”

 

Gig grinned. “I know!”

 

Surge laughed, clapping a paw down onto Gig’s shoulder. Gig smiled up at him, enjoying the warm weight of it, leaning back towards him a little.

 

Gig tilted his head back to look up at Surge. “I’ve picked up some new mixtapes you might be into - I can show you guys after? Don’t let me forget!”

 

“I won’t,” said Surge, squeezing Gig’s shoulder, “new tracks huh? Well, you know I’m always interested in that.”

 

“Gig!” yelled Janey, waving him over from in between the generators, “I’ve got it, but you were right about the simultaneous fixes, you’re going to need to get in here too, and you, too, Surge, if you can get an arm in to hold this down- yeah, thanks,” she added, as Surge held several switched down with one hand by the entrance of the generators, “that’s perfect. Gig?”

 

“Right!” said Gig, wriggling in after her, “What do I need to do?”

 

It was a surprisingly quick fix, unplugging a few things, plugging in others, replacing one small circuit that had come loose. Janey grinned, wiping the back of her hand across her forehead.

 

“Done!”

 

Gig grinned back.

 

The generators hummed, coming back online.

 

“We should get out of here,” said Gig.

 

“Right,” said Janey, “Surge, get ready to take your hand off those switches the second Gig and I and out.”

 

Surge nodded, stepping out of the way of the gap as much as he could while still keeping his hand on them.

 

Not far enough, as it turned out - as Gig wriggled his way out, his boot caught on part of the generator, knocking him into Surge. Janey reached for Surge’s arm to stop him from falling but that only served to pull her down with them, landing with an  _ oof _ on top of Surge.

 

Gig raised himself up, leaning slightly on Surge’s chest. “Sorry.”

 

Surge chuckled, and Gig could feel the vibration. “S’fine. Takes more than a bit of a fall to hurt a guy like me. Janey?”

 

Janey huffed a laugh. “I’m fine.” She flicked a look at Gig out of the corner of her eye. “Bit like old times, huh? But without those records of yours in the background.”

 

“Gig says he’s got some new ones for us,” said Surge.

 

Janey’s grin widened, her hand creeping towards Gig. “Does he now?”

 

Gig blushed. “Well. Seemed kinda silly having you come all this way for one small repair. Especially since we’ve got the rest of the rotation before we can get you back to your shop.”

 

Janey hummed, cupping Gig’s cheek to draw him towards her. “Well. I have a couple of other things we can work on while we wait for that rotation.”

 

-

 

“Finally!” said Fourteen, “You’ve been down there for  _ hours _ !”

 

“I thought you said those repairs would only take a few minutes,” said Even, “it wasn’t something more serious, was it?”

 

Behind him, Surge took a long drink of water. Janey pressed her lips together, not quite able to hide her grin as she turned away to get a glass for herself.

 

Gig shrugged. “I guess it just took longer than I thought to get to the right spot.”

  
  


_ Donell _

“Mr Kephart, really, you didn’t have to go to all the trouble of coming down here,” said Donell.

 

“It’s no trouble at all, I’m on my way through, you’re on your lunch break, what could be less trouble!” said Gig, “Besides, you know, I don’t feel great about you being misled like that. When you meet someone you want to meet  _ them _ , you know,” he waved a hand, “not some guy pretending to  _ be  _ them.”

 

“Well it’s, I mean, I guess I should have known that he wasn’t really you,” said Donell, “you seem much more like a Gig Kephart than he did.”

 

“Thanks!” said Gig brightly, “I always try to be the most Gig Kephart I can be!”

 

Donell laughed, seeming a little more relaxed than he had when Gig had first appeared by his counter to take him to lunch. He took a small sip of his coffee (black, no sugar, even though Gig had insisted that he could order anything).

 

“So, Four- my manager, uh, Lucy, they told me that you’d made your own e-ink pamphlets,” said Gig, “ _ that _ is  _ very cool _ .”

 

Donell sat up a little straighter. “Oh, well, you know. Everyone likes to tinker on Gift 3.”

 

“That’s what they say!” said Gig. “Now, you know, because I’m me, I  _ gotta _ ask, how  _ did _ you make them?”

 

“I- you’re really asking?”

 

“Of course!” said Gig.

 

“Oh, well, I…” Donell set his cup down, fiddling with it a little. “I’m not sure where to start.”

 

“Well, just take me through your process, you know, like, how did you first think of it?”

 

Donell cleared his throat. “Well I was… I was standing at my counter, like always, and I got to thinking- now, what you need to understand first is that the pamphlets that we used to have, now they were alright but there wasn’t really any level of detail on them…”

 

Gig left lunch with three pamphlets, a reserved spot on the Gift 3 Walking Tour for two months time, and Donell’s phone number.

  
  


_ Waltz Tango Cache _

“You aren’t very good at this game,” said Waltz.

 

Gig hummed, squinting at his cards as though that would give him a better hand. “I don’t know, I feel like this is all going according to my plan.”

 

_ The World Without End _ was quiet. Tender and Fourteen had tapped out of the game hours ago, but Gig didn’t feel tired enough for that yet, and Waltz had seemed keen to keep playing (although. Gig wasn’t sure if Waltz slept). They chatted in-between hands, taking turns at slowly shuffling the cards while they talked about work, or Duck, or Waltz’s many awards. 

 

The sphere in the middle of Watz’s cube head pulsed with light, skeptical. “You’re down to your underwear. I don’t know how familiar you are with the rules we’re working from, but you’re losing pretty badly.”

 

Gig grinned. “How are you so sure that this isn’t my plan?”

 

Waltz paused. “Well then. I’d say that depending on your desired outcome, your plan might be a little overly complicated.”

 

Gig felt himself blush, aware that the flush spread down his chest. “I meant as… this is a distraction for my winning hand.”

 

Waltz hummed, his cube head tightening around the sphere and then expanding, casting more light around the room.

 

“And do you have a winning hand?”

 

“Maybe,” said Gig.

 

He didn’t, but a combination of the stream suppressor and an almost-lifetime of being on stream had given him a pretty good poker face.

 

It wasn’t  _ quite  _ as good as Waltz’s though. Gig wondered if that was award winning too.

 

“Let’s say I fold,” said Waltz, leaning back in his chair, “then what?”

 

Gig leant forwards. “Well, I think that means I win.”

 

Waltz huffed a breath. “No I mean. I’m not giving back my winnings. Well.” He paused. “Not unless you do something that makes me feel like being particularly generous.”

 

Gig eyed the pile of clothes on the floor - Fourteen’s jacket, Tender’s stockings, his third-favourite t-shirt and his second-favourite jeans. Tender would probably catch Waltz before he left and convince him to give back their stuff, and Waltz liked her, so there wasn’t really any need for him to worry about that part of it.

 

But, considered Gig as he turned his gaze back to Waltz, there was probably a more fun way to get them back.

 

Gig leant forward and put the tip of his finger of the top of Waltz’s cards. “I think you should fold.”

 

The sphere inside Waltz’s head pulsed again. “You know, I think I should too.”

  
  


_ Kent Brighton _

Kent’s hands fluttered when he spoke. Gig liked that about him, how his words could be seen in gestures.

 

“It’s so good of you to give me a ride- ah, a lift, to assist with my journey,” said Kent.

 

“No problem,” said Gig, “It’s a good chance to see you.”

 

Kent’s cheeks flushed. “Well! Well, it’s, um, it’s good to see you too, Gig. Very good to see you. You’ve been such a wonderful help to the Lineage Brighton.”

 

“Yeah,” said Gig, “but - and no offence - but you’re the part of  _ Lineage Brighton _ that I actually want to hang out with.”

 

The flush on Kent’s cheek’s deepened, and he smiled shyly at Gig, so Gig figured he wasn’t offended.

 

“I, uh, that is to say… I quite like seeing you too, Gig. I wish I could do it more.” Kent’s hands fluttered. “I understand that you’re quite busy of course. Plenty of other places that need assistance from you, I’m sure. Not that I think Brighton is more important that other places in the Mirage. We are quite important, of course, but-”

 

Gig caught one of Kent’s hands, making Kent stutter to a stop.

 

“No,” said Gig, “I know what you mean. It would be cool if our flight paths lined up more.”

 

“Good,” says Kent faintly, “that’s good that you know what I mean, that’s quite good.”

 

He didn’t try to pull his hand away so Gig twined their fingers together, enjoying the pleased-surprised feeling that bloomed over Kent’s face.

 

“Come on,” said Gig, “let’s go to the observation deck. It’s great, it feels like you can see the whole universe from there.”

 

“I feel like I just did,” said Kent faintly.

 

Gig felt himself flush, and he pulled Kent towards the observation deck. After all, they still had a long way to go.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi: mariusperkins on most places


End file.
